For workers age 55 and up, the economy is adding jobs and the unemployment rate is low. But older workers who do lose their jobs face a tough situation: an average jobless spell that now lasts longer than a year.

"If you’re out of work and over 55 you are having a really tough time finding employment," Sara Rix, a policy adviser with the AARP Public Policy Institute, told HuffPost.

Older workers face extra barriers to new employment, Rix said, including age discrimination and concerns among potential employers that older applicants have been out of school and away from training for too long. Dozens of jobless workers in their 50s have told HuffPost their age makes it impossible to find new work.